E-Paper
Pune management consultant loses ₹20 lakh to trading fraud. Here’s what happened
In two months, the management consultant in Pune transferred money eight times to different banks, totaling ₹20 lakh.
A man in his mid-50s who works as a management consultant in Pune became ensnared in an online trading scam and lost ₹20 lakh. The man met a woman on an online dating app who manipulated and deceived him into transferring money in February and March.
Read| Woman tries buying 4 dozen eggs for ₹49 online in Bengaluru, ends up losing ₹48,000. Here’s what happened
The man filed a First Information Report (FIR) at Koregaon Park police station. According to the FIR, the management consultant connected with the woman through a dating app. The two then exchanged their phone numbers and decided to take things forward. After a month, the woman told the complainant about a new stock trading platform and spoke highly of the returns it gave on investments, reported The Indian Express.
Subsequently, she sent him a link and asked him to create his profile. The man submitted his personal information and financial details and created his account.
Once he set up his account, the woman started coaxing the management consultant to make payments to specific banks. The complainant reported that upon making the payment, his account would reflect additions and high profits. This made him believe that the platform was genuine, and he made eight large transfers over two months.
When the victim attempted to withdraw the money, he was asked to pay a $3,000 fee. It was then that he realized he had been scammed. The victim reported the incident to the police and filed an FIR.
In March this year, a businessman in Gujarat lost ₹95 lakh in a scam. According to the Times of India (TOI), it all started when Parag Desai received a “friend request” from a woman named Steff Mhiz on Facebook. Desai accepted the request, and the two began talking. Soon, they shifted to WhatsApp, where they continued their communication. The woman then presented a business idea to him.
She reportedly told him to buy herbal products from India, costing ₹1 lakh each, and resell them to her company for ₹2 lakhs. When Desai agreed, she connected him with Dr Virendra to procure the products
Soon, Desai received a sample packet and paid ₹1 lakh for it. The package arrived on time, but Desai didn’t open it. Instead, he kept placing more orders and paying money to Dr Virendra in different accounts.
Also Read| Man tries to get ₹45,000 from woman in UPI scam bid, she foils his plan
However, he became suspicious when Dr Virendra kept asking for more money under various pretexts. Desai then asked him to cancel the deal and return his money, but he never received it.
Both Dr Virendra and the woman have been unreachable since then. Eventually, when Desai opened the packets he received, he was shocked to find powder and fried chips in the boxes.
